GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
DANIEL 7:4-5
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4 The first one was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was raised up from the ground and set to stand on two feet like a man. And it was given the mind of a man.
This chapter develops in a new way, compared with its parallel vision (the statue in chapter 2). Three kingdoms are represented by three animals, and then a fourth creature appears with horns, one of which speaks. Most of the chapter deals with that final creature, and with the appearance of Christ, the “Son of Man” (verse 13). Since no attention at all is later given to these first creatures, we will describe their meaning as each one appears. We judge that these four creatures correspond to the different parts of the statue from chapter two (1) because the same prophet wrote down both dreams, one given to Nebuchadnezzar and one given to the prophet himself, (2) because God himself is the giver of both dreams, and (3) the components of the statue agree with the four creatures and the details Daniel sees. This is especially true of the fourth creature.
The first creature is “like a lion, and had eagles’ wings.” The wings could also be vulture’s wings, since nesher in Hebrew and nashar in Aramaic both get used for large, soaring carnivorous birds (Leviticus 11:13; Job 39:27). But here the identification of the bird’s wings is unimportant, since they are “plucked off,” and the creature is made to stand upright like a man on two legs or feet. More than this, the creature is “given the mind (or heart) of a man.” These things all seem to relate especially to Nebuchadnezzar, and more definitely to what we are told about Nebuchadnezzar here in Daniel’s book. He who formerly acted like a fast-moving, monstrous bird, feasting on the carrion of its conquests (eagle or vulture, it does not matter which), it’s wings were clipped. This is what happened to Nebuchadnezzar when his boasting got too proud and blasphemous. He was struck down by God and lived for a long time like an animal, and there is even a hint of “feathers” and “birds’ claws” in his description at that time (Daniel 4:33). But the Lord got him to stand up on his feet again, and restored his sanity: “It was given the mind of a man.” For Daniel and for the Holy Spirit, this is the most important part of the whole kingdom of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar and the kings who followed him were mighty, but the Lord brought them down. The king Daniel knew when he wrote this chapter was the very last king of Babylon, Belshazzar. The handwriting was on its way to that king’s wall.
5 And then there was another beast, a second one, that was like a bear. It was raised up on one side; it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And this was being said to it: ‘Get up and devour much flesh.’
This second beast, “like a bear,” arrives. Lions and bears are often associated in Scripture. David killed both (1 Samuel 17:36), a wicked ruler is compared to both (Proverbs 28:15); and both are to be feared (Lamentations 3:10; Hosea 13:8). Their complacency is an illustration of divine peace (Isaiah 11:7),
Like a bear, it is different from the creature that came before. Its power is different, its fearsomeness is different, just as Persia (or Medo-Persia) was different from Babylon. The most important difference for God’s people was that they were released from their captivity. Cyrus sent out the order to let them go. If they wanted to stay, they could stay, but any and all who wanted to go, could go (2 Chronicles 36:23; Ezra 1:3).
What does the Holy Spirit mean to tell us by saying that this bear was “raised up on one side”? Is it meant to portray a nation that only made use of half its resources, like a rider on horseback “that spurs his horse on but one side,” or like an ill-roasted egg, done all on one side? Or that one side would fare worse in an upcoming war? Professor Jeske seems closer to the simplest and clearest point that one side, the Persians, had greater importance than the Medes.
The bear-creature has three somethings in its mouth; three ribs between its teeth. The word here for “ribs” (‘ala (עֲלַע) helps us to better understand the Hebrew word from the account of the creation of Eve. There, the Lord removes a tsela (צֵּלָע) from Adam to form the woman (Genesis 2:21-22). These words correspond, Aramaic to Hebrew, and help us understand that the otherwise hard to identify “something” in Genesis was in fact one of Adam’s ribs. There are few other “somethings” in the side of an animal or a human man that come in groups of three or more. The bear would be unlikely to be feasting on three livers, for example, or three hearts all at the same time. But three ribs fits the imagery. Famously, the Persians defeated three important enemies, Lydia, Babylon and Egypt. So we hear God telling the bear-creature, “Devour much flesh,” for God gave Cyrus and Persia authority over many nations.
Daniel’s vision tells us that the earlier dream of Nebuchadnezzar was not only for him, or to proclaim the downfall of various kingdoms beginning with his, but that its details are absolutely true and for us to give our full attention to. This is the meaning of a dream or vision that is presented twice, like Pharaoh’s two dreams about the years of plenty and the years of want, and Joseph’s dreams about his own rise to prominence. Daniel’s vision holds up the future for God’s people in Babylon, telling them that Persia’s rise would be the first sign that the Savior himself was on the way. God’s gospel promise of rescue from sin and the power of the devil was on its way to being fulfilled physically and in person by the man Jesus Christ, the Son of Man as Daniel will call him. And since today we know the certainty of what happened when Christ came the first time, we can also take comfort in what Daniel will eventually say about the coming of Christ the second time, when he will judge the living and the dead, and when he will bring us home to our place with him in heaven.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Daniel 7:4-5 Lion and bear